


Guilty

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 09:11:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16678759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex's voice gets messed up, causing the band to cut their set short, making Alex feel guilty.





	Guilty

“Alex, how’s your throat today?” Jack asked his friend. They were currently on tour, and a couple of days ago Alex noticed that his throat had felt a bit off. They hadn’t had a show since he had discovered this and had been speaking as little as possible to make sure that his voice would be as close to perfect for their show.  
“It still feels a bit off. I think it’s just allergies, but it’s still annoying,” Alex replied.  
“You really think it’s not anything more serious? We don’t want to assume it’s nothing, then end up having a real problem,” Jack said.  
“No, I really think it’s just allergies. This happened to me a lot when I was a kid. Around this time of year, my throat would be sore, and it would suck for a few days, then it would go away, and I’d be fine. By our next show, I’ll probably be fine, since we have a couple of days off after tonight,” Alex explained, coughing into his arm.  
“Well, we’d better get to soundcheck then,” Jack suggested. It was right before four that afternoon, and they were supposed to soundcheck until five. Then, they had a meet and greet, then it was finally showtime. Their opening act couldn’t perform that night, so it was just going to be them. The two of them left the green room and walked over to the stage area. They grabbed their guitars and quickly tuned them up. They walked onstage, and immediately started sound checking, since Rian and Zack were already out there. Everyone could tell that Alex was struggling. He was unable to hit notes that he could normally do without giving it much thought, and some notes made his throat sting. Once they were finished, they all met each other in the middle of the stage.  
“Alex, I think we need to cut the show a little bit tonight,” Rian stated.  
“Woah, what? I don’t want to do that!” Alex exclaimed. Raising his voice had bothered his throat and made him cough a bit.  
“Dude come on. We could all tell that you were struggling,” Zack said.  
“Yeah, we really could. Going onstage and messing up your throat more wouldn’t be smart. This isn’t serious enough to cancel, but you need to take care of yourself,” Jack explained. Alex knew that his bandmates were right, as much as he hated to admit it.  
“Okay fine, maybe only ten songs instead of seventeen?” Alex suggested.  
“That sounds good. Let’s all go back to the green room and write up a setlist for tonight before we have to go to the meet and greet. That way, everyone will be able to see it, and we can all be on the same page,” Rian explained. The four of them walked offstage, and over to the green room.   
“Okay, so what definitely stays?” Zack asked.  
“Dear Maria, Backseat Serenade, Lost In Stereo, and Weightless. People almost expect to hear those songs when they come to our shows,” Alex said.  
“That’s true. We need to keep Damned, too,” Jack suggested.  
“We should do Good Times, since this tour is for that album. Maybe Dirty Laundry and Life of the Party, too? People seem to like hearing those,” Rian explained.   
“We need something off Future Hearts. Something’s Gotta Give?” Zack suggested.  
“Yeah, and I’ll do Therapy like usual, and that takes us to ten songs,” Alex said.  
“Are you sure you’ll be okay doing Therapy by yourself?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Let’s put this in the order we’re going to play them in and give it to everyone who is going to need it,” Alex suggested. They wrote down the set in order, then gave it to their tour manager. Once they were done, they pulled out their phones.  
“How long until the meet and greet?” Alex asked.  
“About twenty minutes. Don’t talk more than you need to during it, okay?” Jack suggested. He always got very concerned for Alex when something happened to him. Alex was grateful for this, even if it did get to be a bit much at times.  
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Alex replied. They went through things on their phones until it was time for the meet and greet. All of this with Alex’s throat had stressed him out some but meeting all the people they did allowed his mind to relax for a bit. This was one of the many reasons he loved his job. He talked to people, but took Jack’s advice, and tried to talk less than he normally would’ve. By the end of it, his voice felt a bit more tired than it had earlier. He went back to the green room and made himself a cup of honey lemon tea. He mostly kept to himself, feeling anxious about what the night had in store for him.  
\----------  
Once they only had about five minutes before they were supposed to go on, they walked over to the stage entrance, so they could make sure that their instruments were ready. Alex had spent basically all the time between the meet and greet and this moment thinking about the show. He felt really bad that they were going to do a shorter set, and that it was all his fault. He kept thinking about how disappointed everyone would be, since they wouldn’t be getting a full show. He knew that stuff like this happened but couldn’t help himself from blaming himself and thinking about it all like this. He didn’t tell anyone in his band about it, because he didn’t want them to have to worry about him over it. He was snapped out of his thoughts when their stage tech told them that it was time for them to go onstage. They walked on and took their places before starting their first song. Everyone in the band could easily tell that Alex’s voice didn’t sound quite right, and Alex hoped that the fans wouldn’t be able to figure that out. He already had to cut the show, he didn’t want to totally ruin it for everyone. He coughed a lot between songs and drank as much water as he could. There was some banter between himself and Jack, but not as much as usual. Alex felt very guilty and anxious and couldn’t bring himself to make dick jokes at that point. Therapy was their eighth song, and by then, Alex’s voice was significantly more tired, but he was still determined to do it by himself like he always did, since he knew that quite a few people liked that. His band went offstage, and a single spotlight went onto him.  
“All I want to say before this next song, is that life can throw unexpected shit at you, but that only has as much control over you as you give it. This song is called Therapy,” Alex said, before starting to play it. He wished he could take his own advice but couldn’t seem to get his mind out of where it had gone to. They all played Good Times and walked offstage after.  
“How’s your throat? We can tell your voice isn’t doing too well,” Jack said.  
“More worn than it was. Let me go onstage myself for a minute, then we’ll do Dear Maria,” Alex requested. He walked back on, and went to his microphone, making the fans scream.  
“Hey guys, we normally do a much longer set than we’re doing tonight, but my throat and voice are a bit messed up right now, and we decided to play it safe and not make it a bigger problem, which is why we cut the set some. We’re going to do one last song then call it a night, I’m so sorry. We’ll come back and make this up to you all, I promise,” Alex said, feeling very defeated. The crowd cheered as the rest of the band came back onstage, starting to play Dear Maria. Once they finished, they thanked the crowd, and walked off. Jack noticed Alex go right over to the green room and followed him over. When he got there, he knocked on the door before opening it. Alex was sitting on the couch, with his head in his hands. Jack walked over to the couch Alex was on and sat down next to him.  
“Hey man, are you okay?” Jack asked. Alex took a deep breath.  
“I hate that we had the set and shit. I feel like I let a lot of people down,” Alex replied in a quiet voice.  
“Alex, please don’t feel guilty over this. Your health is the most important thing. We can come back here in the future, but for now you need to rest your voice and be careful with it,” Jack explained.  
“I just feel like people are mad, because they paid for the full experience and we didn’t give it to them, all because of my voice,” Alex continued.  
“Dude, we have some of the best fans ever, because they really care about us and our wellbeing. They wouldn’t want you to overdo it and damage your voice. The fans aren’t mad at you, none of us in the band are mad at you, and you shouldn’t be mad at yourself. I understand the frustration, but it’s all okay, I promise,” Jack said, putting his hand on Alex’s leg.   
“Thanks man, I appreciate it. I just hate when shit like this happens,” Alex replied.  
“I know, but hopefully by our next show, you’ll be okay again. It’s a goo thing we have a couple of off days, because that’ll give you some more time to rest up your voice.” Jack said.  
“That’s true. You guys probably love that I won’t be able to talk very much for a while,” Alex joked, making both of them laugh.  
“Not true, man. But you should get back to the bus and rest up,” Jack suggested.  
“Good point, I guess I’ll head over there now. Thanks for helping me get out of my head,” Alex said, getting up.   
“No problem man. Don’t worry, you’ll be back to your normal, loud self in a few days,” Jack joked. Alex walked over to the bus with a smile on his face, and a feeling of gratitude for his band and their fans.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I've had this written for a while, and finally got around to posting it! I hope you guys like it, and send in requests if you have them! Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
